


Steel Magnolia

by TheLittleMightyOne



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Afterlife, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Break the Damn Door Down: a Fridged Women Ficathon, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Heroes & Heroines, Heroine's Journey, Love, M/M, Marriage, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Canon, are u ready for one buckwild adventure cus it's buckwild in here, i dont even know what that tag means but i like it, im taking julia burnsides and making her badass leggo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2018-12-10 08:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11687430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLittleMightyOne/pseuds/TheLittleMightyOne
Summary: 'Til death do us part.Julia Burnsides was never supposed to die this young. As Fate grieved and the Universe mourned the loss of one beautiful soul whose life was ripped from her far too soon, Julia held onto the love that carried her thus far and used it to carry her further.How far will she go to say one final goodbye to her husband? How hard will she fight for her one, gleaming chance? How does she hold on her hope and her love when all around her is darkness?This is a story of second chances. This is a story of the power of love. This is the story of the Steel Magnolia.





	1. “Her death will not be synonymous with her end.” mused the Universe. “Her journey has only begun.” added Fate.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven disobeys. Kalen initiates his attack. Julia takes a fall.
> 
> Our story has begun.

Raven’s Roost was a town unlike any other. It married both rustic hospitality and charismatic dedication in one perfect union; a feat towns rarely can accomplish. But, what makes a town so wonderful? What gives a town its reputable personality? What did Raven’s Roost have that others did not?

Why, its _residents_ of course. And Raven’s Roost happened to house the greatest humanity had to offer. That’s what made Raven’s Roost so wonderful. That’s what made it a little slice of heaven. And that’s where the best six years of the infamous folk hero, Magnus Burnsides’ life happened.

Unfortunately, a town with such power to create such bliss also has the power to destroy it.

And destroy Magnus Burnsides it did.

But, by that very destruction, a single angel rose from the ashes and became the greatest hero the Shadowfell had ever seen. If not for the destruction, she never would have risen. She never would have fought. She never would have _won_.

This angel’s name is Julia Burnsides.

This is the story of the Steel Magnolia.  


* * *

 

The sun peers in through the windows of the Hammer and Tongs and reflects off the newly polished bedside table Steven Waxman had been working on. It shines throughout the workshop, giving it a warm, friendly glow. The fall air was crisp, but the sun had not heard the news of the change of seasons; it was shining as if it was still summertime. The leaves on the numerous trees surrounding the city had recently turned golden and threatened to fall at any moment. The carpenter sits back on his knees and wipes the sweat from his brow as his gaze shifts to his daughter working at her desk beside him.

“Whew! Magnus has only been gone for two days and I’m already tuckered out.”

While her father, Steven, and her husband, Magnus, were the expert carvers of the family, Julia prefered crunching the numbers, organizing the order forms, and playing with carpentry designs. She could carve a quality coffee table herself, but the business aspect of, well, owning a _business_ was where her heart lived. There was nothing more exciting to her than charming the customer into a good deal, or playing the numbers to maximize the quality of their works. Julia was the numbers girl, and that’s how she liked it.

Besides, those two goobers couldn’t balance a checkbook if their lives depended on it.

She flicks her round tortoise shell glasses down from on top her head and looks up from organizing the dozens of order forms laid out before her, shifting them slightly as to hide the doodles of baby cradles--nothing special, just a few designs of a magnolia wood one here and another oak one there (she was partial to the magnolia wood design, herself). Julia gives her father a teasing smile. “Well Papa, get yourself _un-tuckered_ , because we got about _fifty-two_ orders to do. It’s crunch time, old man.”

Steven laughs a good, hardy laugh; one that rumbles in the stomach and tickles your ears when you hear it. Julia beams. He stands up slowly, using the newly carved table as a crutch. He lifts his hands over his head and stretches as a few bones crack. Julia makes an exaggerated disgusted face and sticks her tongue out at him.

“Hey!” Steven walks over to her and gives her curly, auburn hair a ruffle, “I’m _an old man_ , you said it yourself, you big _meanie_.”

Julia giggles innocently. Steven rests his hand on his daughter’s shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“Do ya miss’em?”

“A little.”

“He’ll be home sooner than you think. The convention isn’t that long, pumpkin.”

Julia spins her wedding ring around her finger. “I know.”

“And he’s sure to win with that chair!” Steven perks, his free hand gesturing wildly “ Man, what genius! I mean, _lavender_ to help babies sleep? He never came across as a family man! Where’d he get _that_ idea?!”

Julia’s cheeks flush as she stifles a chuckle, “You know Maggie, always thinkin’ and everything.”

“Well, my darling daughter, in the meantime,” Steven gives her a smile and a wink, “It’s like you said! It’s crunch time!”

Julia giggles again and gives him a salute, “You got it, boss!"

* * *

 

The sun is offering its last rays of the day and the torches begin to light when Julia looks up from her work--rather, doodles of cradles again (definitely magnolia wood, but she just couldn’t decide on a headboard). Steven had stopped carving his third coffee table of the day to peer out the window.

On any regular day, Raven’s Roost would be fairly busy. From workers heading back to their homes after a day of work to people just taking an evening stroll. But, today, the air was still. Quiet. Even the breeze dared not make a noise.

Something was wrong.

A child begins to scream.

Something was terribly, terribly _wrong._

Julia’s heart begins to slam in her chest as she jumps up from her desk and lowers her glasses once more. A pencil rolled to the floor.

“Now, what in the name of--”

The commotion outside grows. Mothers yell at their children to get inside. Someone calls for the militia.

Julia’s chest tightens. Magnus was the leader of the militia. Without him, they’d be lost. She had assured him nothing would happen while he was gone, she had told him--

And someone screams again.

But this time, it’s a name. A single word. Two syllables.

And Julia’s vision goes black.

“ **KALEN!** ”

Steven turns to his daughter. “Julia...”  
  
She feels her face go pale. She tries to swallow but her throat is sandpaper. Her heart is beating so fast she can’t feel anything other than the pain of having it slam against her chest _over and over_.

“Julia-”  
  
“ **SOMEONE CALL THE FUCKING MILITIA!** ”

As soon as those words register, it’s as if someone had flipped a switch in her brain. Flight or fight instinct takes over. Julia dashes to the door and grabs her miniature crossbow her husband had made for her from the shelf above the coat hanger.

“Julia what are you--”  
  
“Stay inside.”

“Julia I don’t--”  
  
“I SAID STAY INSIDE, PAPA.” Her voice cracks. She blinks away the tears forming in her eyes and swallows.

Steven nods. Julia swings the door open.

The Craftsmen’s Corridor was located on the edge of Raven’s Roost, pressed right up against the rock formation that it was built upon. It was held in place by large, wooden support beams that were nailed into the ground by giant stakes.

Nobody took notice to how vulnerable this left the town. Nobody knew how dangerous having an entire city supported by wooden columns was. Nobody suspected anything like this to happen.

The wooden beams were protected from natural causes, such as the harsh weather and various animals, by a special protection spell casted by the town’s wizards, warlocks, and clerics. However, Julia was positive the spell did not protect against the explosives Kalen had placed around them. And from her vantage point on the rope bridge connecting Craftsmen’s Corridor with Gardener’s Grove, she could see there was _a lot_ of them.

Of all the things Julia expected to see, this was not one of them.

_This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This is a nightmare this is--_

Magic missiles flare into the dusk sky. She doesn’t notice them.

“Damnit, man! You’ll hit the fucking bombs!” She doesn’t hear them.

Her soft brown eyes are locked with Kalen’s piercing green ones.

There is no way in all the lands that he does not recognize her.

“What do we do--”  
“EVERYONE! EVACUATE!”  
“ _WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!_ ”

A mass of people run past her on the bridge. Some bump into her. Some even grab her shoulder to nudge her along.

But Julia Burnsides’ eyes are locked onto the Governor’s.

Julia ran outside her home with every intention of fighting Kalen. She chose to fight, just as her husband and her friends had done months before. She wanted with every bit of her soul to help.

But those snake-like, venomous eyes. They are hypnotic. They gaze into the very core of her being. They sucked every ounce of fight from her and replaced it with terror. Julia is powerless to them.

She begins to shake. Her stomach is in knots and her vision is blurred and her chest is so tight she can barely breathe; she tries to lift her crossbow but her arms are frozen, paralyzed at her side--she can only stare back at the monster below.

She should be _doing something_ , she should be helping, she should be--

“Alright little ones, go, GO!”

_Papa._

Oh, _gods_ , she told him to stay in the shop she told him to stay inside she told him--

Her head jerks to face the Hammer and Tongs. Her papa was guiding children towards the bridges, telling them it was all just a game, just an act; to race across the bridges and wait for him on the other side.

Kalen takes notice of her change in attention. His eyebrows raise.

And he **_smiles._ **

“Goodbye, Julia.”

And his thumb presses the detonator.

Julia had barely taken a step towards her home before her glasses fly off as the heat of the blast burns her skin and her ears go numb as an agonizing ringing rattles her brain.

Without the support beam, the ground sinks in front of her. The rope bridge snaps. And she’s falling.

She aimlessly grabs at something-- _anything_ \--to break her fall but all she grab onto are boards from the bridge and scalding hot pieces of ropes. She looks at the sky and sees nothing but blurry darkness.

Even the stars have abandoned them tonight.

She’s falling and she's blind and she’s deaf and she’s _burning_ and--

**_Magnus._ **

Julia is sure she is screaming, wailing in pain from both the explosion and knowing that Magnus--her beloved, beloved Magnus--will come back to nothing but ash. She is sure she is screaming but she can hear nothing except the painful, painful ringing in her head.

And then her vision goes black.

She is awoken not a moment later by a sharp, piercing, excruciating pain to the left of her abdominal. She is gasping for air that her lungs cannot grip. She is screaming but her mouth is silent. She reaches for her chest to feel what in _gods’_ name is causing the _tortuous_ piercing pain and she feels a wet, wooden stake where flesh should be.

Julia is suddenly, painfully aware of a thick, metal taste blooming in her mouth.

_Oh gods, oh gods--_

She’s growing weaker by the second. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to keep her head up, to choke, to stay alive.

 _No, I_ **_have_ ** _to I have to stay I have to keep fighting I have to… I have to keep holding on I can’t go yet my Maggie is coming back for me... my Maggie..._

But the pain is becoming excruciating. But her lungs have given up. But her limbs are growing more and more numb with every passing second.

_But Kalen has won._

She wants to keep fighting, gods, she desperately wants to keep fighting, but the pain is becoming too much to bare. All the love in all the realms cannot save her now.

_I’m sorry, Magnus._

The second round of bombs detonate.

Craftsmen’s Corridor is reduced to ash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowza! It's so exciting to see this story finally getting out there after three months of planning. I hope yall are as excited to read this as I am to write it :) 
> 
> Make sure to leave a kudos or comment if you like it because I crave that sweet, sweet feedback.


	2. “The hands of the departed will aid her.” observed the Universe. “Her love will be the most powerful force in all the realms.” mused Fate.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven sends his love. Kravitz fights a restless soul. Julia punches death in the jaw.

_“Magnus?”_

_The wind howled through the branches as the rain fell and splattered on your window. Thunder rolled in the distance as you looked upon her husband._

_“Mmm?” The man rolled over to face you, a calm, sleepy smile on his face. Your blanket was pulled up to your chin and your shoulders were hunched up to your ears, your eyes the very picture of fear. Lightning striked a few miles away. You flinched when the thunder clapped._

_Magnus reached out his hand to cup your face and rubbed his thumb along your cheek. “You ok, Jules?”_

_You leaned into in his gentle touch and shook your head in response. “I can’t sleep.”_

_The carpenter’s heart ached seeing you scared like this. He shifted himself closer to you and kissed your forehead. You hummed a bit as he did so, releasing your grip on your blankets to press your palms against your husband’s chest. His arms wrap around you in big, loving embrace as his fingertips trace little circles on your back. Magnus kissed your head as you rested your head against him, letting yourself be soothed by his steady heartbeat. Your fingertips trail from his collarbones, to the set of matching scars that adorned his chest, to the sides of his waist where you held onto him. You breath in his warm scent and exhale slowly. He was still here. He was still with you._

_You knew exactly why you were so scared. The thunder sounded exactly like the explosions and spells that were fired off during the Rebellion. Kalen had only been overthrown a little over a month ago. Nobody expected anyone to able to heal that quickly._

_Every thunder clap that followed, he would hug you just a bit tighter._

_“Don’t worry, Jules, I got’ya. Shh, I got’ya. Nothin’s gonna happen to you while I’m here.”_

_He looked at you through a half lidded gaze with all the love in the world. Your heart swelled._

_Lightning illuminated your room once more, followed by thunder rumbling in the distance. Magnus decorated your forehead in small kisses._

_There was no doubt in your mind that you were safe in your husband’s arms; there was no place in all the realms you’d feel safer. Yet anxieties were powerful. Not even the warm embrace from your Magnus and your growing sleepiness could keep them at bay._

_“What’s gonna happen if you’re no’ here?”_

_You didn’t mean for the question to slip._

_But your Magnus laughed in reply. Planting a kiss on the top of your head and giving you an extra squeeze, he mumbled into your hair,  “I’m always going to be here, baby girl.”_

_“Bu’wha’ if you aren’t?” You were growing sleepier by the moment. Your eyes barely had the strength to stay open._

_He kissed your forehead once more, “Then I’ll fight tooth ‘n nail to get to you. I promise, Jules.”_

_“I lu’v yu’, hubby.”_

_“I love you too, wifey.”_

* * *

 

Julia’s soul does not move.

The smoke clears and reveals the extent of the destruction, and Julia’s spirit remains.

Mothers scream until their lungs give out for those lost. Children weep until their little eyes are dry for they have been exposed to an evil they never should have been exposed to. Families hold onto each other with all the strength they could muster because the only thing they still had was their love for each other.

And Julia sees it all.

She has the option to go into the light, to enter the Astral Plane along with her neighbors and her friends and her father. But she doesn’t move. She _can’t_ move. The shock of her passing is too much for her to bare.

Steven Waxman walks up to her, squeezes her shoulder, and smiles softly. He was an old man; his life, though ripped from him, was lived enough. Death had been in the back of his mind for a while now. He was able to accept it. Julia, on the other hand, was still young--still full of so much life. Steven saw the glassy look in her eyes and numb expression and understood at once.   

“Whenever you’re ready, pumpkin. I’ll be there.”

Julia didn’t respond. Steven’s smile sinks as he turns from her and walks towards the plane. Time. Time was all she needed. She had plenty of it now, anyway.

Days past. She hears passing arguments.

“We can’t just _leave!_ ”   
  
“And sit here and wait for him to attack again? What if Craftsmen’s Corridor was only the first? What if Gardener’s Grove is next? Or Residential Rows!”   
  
“But if we leave, that means Kalen _won!_ ”

“Sweetheart… He already has.”

As the sun makes its round across the skies, as the stars twinkle into view and disappear with the rising dawn, Julia kneels. She watches as the last of her people leave. She watches her beloved Raven’s Roost become nothing but a ghost town.

A prisoner of her shock. A paralysis of the mind. Nothing could possibly shake her awake now.  

The magnolia trees bloom. She doesn't notice.

She doesn’t know how many sunrises pass before he arrives.

“Ah! There we are.”

Her hair shifts in the breeze his presence brings. “Raven’s Roost… Quite a lovely ‘lil town, ain’t it? Well, _was_ a lovel’y lil town... Oh, that was a bit insensitive, wasn’t it? Too soon?” He clears his throat, “Well, anywho!”

She knows the voice is talking to her, yet she could not bring herself to turn and face him. She hears turning pages. She blinks slowly.

“‘N you are Julia… Waxman, is that correct?”

The error--and the crushing ache it gives her in her chest--was the first thing strong enough to break her paralysis. She turned her head slightly to face the man behind her.  

“...Burnsides.” The first word she utters since she died. Her voice is hoarse from underuse. “My name is Julia Burnsides.”

Her eyes trail up to meet his dark maroon ones. He gives her a forced laugh, “Ah! Of course,” The book he held in his hands evaporates in a puff of black smoke. “Burnsides, my mistake, love. Recently married, yes?” She doesn’t respond. He holds his hands behind his back as he smiles gently at her.

“Well, Julia, we seem to have a bit of’a problem.” His cockney accent was harsh on Julia’s ears, “You have, well _died_ , and yet you’re still ‘ere!”

Julia looks quizzingly at him, not sure where else she was supposed to be. The man just smiles at her, “Com’on, you don’t belong out ‘ere. My name’s Kravitz. I’ll take you somewhere much nicer, just follow me.”

He extends a hand. Julia’s eyes trail down his crisp, black suit to meet it. She was trapped in her dissociation; too dazed to do anything but obey. She gingerly lifts her hand and places it into his. It was cold. Then again, so was hers.

“That’a girl.” He speaks slowly and gently, as if he wasn’t sure she’d understand him otherwise, “Com’on now, I can take you to a place much, much nicer than out ‘ere.”

Julia swallows. She lets him pull her up. He smiles softly at her once more.

“That’a girl...‘N now, you can see your father and all your friends and---”

Julia’s ears twitch as she hears someone collapse behind her.

Then comes a scream that rattles throughout her very being. It trails up and down her spine, courses through her veins, and shakes off the paralysis that holds her in the state of shock.

Her pupils dilate.

“ _Magnus._ ”

She whips her head around, hand still interlocked in Kravitz’s, and her stomach drops to the ashes below.

There he is, fallen to his knees, hands gripping his hair for dear life as the most pained and enraged scream Julia has ever heard comes out of his mouth.

“Oh, Raven help me, love, don’t--no no no no---!”

Kravitz strengthens his grip on her hand as she tries to pull away.

“Magnus...”

That was him--that was her _husband_ \--that was the man she loved with every fiber of her being, the man she vowed to be with until--

_‘Til death do us part.’_

“MAGNUS!”

She screams at him. She isn’t sure he can hear her.

She doesn’t care.

“IT’S ME! IT’S ME, JULIA! I’M HERE! MAGNUS--MAGNUS, PLEASE!”

Thunder rumbles in the distance. Lightning strikes a few miles away.

Kravitz wraps his arms around her waist, “HE CAN’T HEAR YOU, LOVE! HE CAN’T HEAR YOU! YOU’RE DEAD, JULIA! YOU’RE DEAD!”

The heavens mourn and rain begins to fall.

“MAGNUS!!!! _MAGNUS!!!!”_

Her heart shatters within her over and over and over again as she watches her husband tremble.  Her wails are wild and animalistic. She pushes on Kravitz’s arms around her waist and reaches towards her husband--reaches, reaches, reaches. He increases his grip.

“HE CAN’T HEAR YOU! YOU’RE ON TWO SEPARATE PLANES OF EXISTENCE, LOVE! HE DOESN’T HAVE MAGIC! HE CAN’T HEAR YOU! JULIA, PLEASE! STOP!”

Julia does not stop. She can’t stop.   

“ _LET GO OF ME!!! MAGNUS!!! MAGNUS PLEASE, IT’S ME!!! IT’S JULIA!!!”_

She’s hiccuping now. Her legs flail violently.

“ _MAGNUS!!! I’M HERE!!! MA-A-A-A-AGNUS!!!”_

Her husband is kneeling there, eyes fixed on the ashes of his home as the rain falls and soaks every inch of him. He didn’t seem to care. Thunder claps as he cries out a sob laced with anger and grief. He slams his fists against the dirt.

She pounds her fists against Kravitz’s arms frantically. He is unphased. Her jaw clenches as she desperately screams through gritted teeth. Magnus sits back up, tears mixing with rain as they stream down his face.

He screams her name.

She chokes on a sob.

Julia reaches once more, stretching her arms as far as they can reach to run to him, to hold him and press his head against her chest and run her fingers through his hair and soothe him and tell him that everything was ok, that everything was alright. Because they were together. Because they had each other.

But she couldn’t.

“I hate it when they make me waste a spell slot---”

He was still alive.

She was not.

“Alright love, _sleep_.”

She is still reaching. She is still sobbing. But, gods above, suddenly she is _exhausted_.

“That’s it… That’s it, com’on Julia, that’s it…”

Her thrashing becomes weaker. Her jaw unclenches. She keeps her vision steady on her grieving husband as the rest of the world fades around him.

“That’s it…”

“Mag...nus…”

“Shhh…”

The last thing Julia remembers is collapsing into the man’s arms and being carried into a bright, white light surrounded by a black cloud of glowing, staring eyes.

* * *

 

There’s a moment of peace before one falls asleep, when one is in a state of perfect tranquility. A moment of harmony between body and soul. The Astral Plane existed to mimic this peace, to give the souls who have lived their lives a place to rest.

Here in the Stream of Souls, Julia’s soul was supposed to be at rest. She was supposed to be happy.

 _Supposed_ to be.

The Astral Plane did not treat souls with such great amount of life force, souls such as Julia Burnsides, very well.

Julia was extremely grateful that Kravitz had enough mercy within him to place her sleeping soul next to her father, so when she awoke she would not be alone. Yet, even then all she could do was hold onto his hand as they drifted together. They could not speak to each other. They could not sing together. They could only close their eyes and drift into infinity.

Steven Waxman was an old man when he passed away. He was tired after a life lived enough. He was perfectly ok with resting for a while.

But Julia... Julia was so young. Her book was barely through its first chapters when it was ripped from her.  Resting now, while she was still full of so much life, was insufferable.

All she could do was close her eyes and drift. She was miserable.

She wants to _DO_ something. She wants to _BE_ someone. She wants to be able to _LIVE_ again _._

She did not even have her wedding ring anymore. Physical possessions were left in the ethereal plane.

Steven looks back at his daughter as his mouth forms shapes of words that she cannot hear. That she could never hear. Julia only frowns in response.

Since she could not rest like the others, Julia tended to relive her final minutes in the ethereal plane over and over and over again. There was nothing else she could keep herself occupied with.

Every flashback hurt worse than the last. Remembering the look at her beloved husband’s face as he lays eyes on the destruction sent a wave of hurt crashing into her. She recalls the pain in his voice as he wailed her name to the apathetic heavens above. She remembers her own anguish as she fought Kravitz in vain as he dragged her to the Astral Plane, her eyes fixed on her lost husband--

_I never even got to say goodbye._

Julia freezes. Steven notices her halt and turns to face her. Julia looks at him, eyes widening with horror at her realization.

_I… I never said goodbye!_

Spirits gently bump into her. Her trembling hands make their way to her mouth. She grips handfuls of her hair and tugs. She lifts her knees up to her chest.

The restless soul shrieks.  

_I NEVER SAID GOODBYE!_

A white-hued aura blasts in every direction from her and echoes throughout the Astral Plane. Its light spreads and reaches throughout the entirety of the stream, illuminating every corner and touching every inch.

As soon as this light engulfs a soul, they feel the restless soul’s sorrow. Her grief. The utter power her life force has.

The stream pauses for the first time in a millennia. Souls blink away the tears that do not belong to them while others reach up and gingerly touch them in confusion, for they have been drifting for so long they had forgotten what sadness feels like.

Steven reaches out and holds his daughter’s shoulders as she trembles, clutching fistfuls of her hair and yanking on them, trying and failing miserably get a hold of herself.

Steven strokes her hair as she trembles. She knows how this should feel, she knows her father’s touch such be soothing, should be calming; but her soul feels nothing. She remembers how touch feels and this is not it.

She slowly tilts her head and looks up at her father. She studies his features. The crinkles around his mouth as he frowned, unsure of how to help her. His hands, calloused from years upon years of hard labor. His soft brown eyes which looked upon her with all the love a father could muster.

Gods above how she would miss him.

_I’m sorry Papa. I can’t stay anymore._

Her lips make the shapes of words yet no sound comes out. Steven’s mouth quivers as he blinks a few times. After a moment, he nods.  
_I know._

The white light of the restless soul’s shriek glows around them. Julia stands up and wraps her arms around him. She doesn’t feel the warmth that his embraces were supposed to provide but she does feel the love behind it. The love that can only be shared between father and daughter.

Julia pulls away. Steven watches her as she drifts towards the top of the stream.

The souls of the stream stare at her in bewilderment at her. Who was this girl? Where did she come from? How… How did she _do_ that?

They stagger a bit before parting from her path, eyes fixed on her.

She presses her hand up to the barrier. It was cool and silky, a bit slimey even.   And she pushes.

The barrier pushes back. She lifts her other hand.

There’s a divot in the barrier. Julia kicks her legs and pushes harder.

It snaps back and Julia sinks back into the stream. She tries to ignore the eyes staring as she launches herself at the barrier again, hoping a running start would aid her. Her peripheral vision blurs as she speeds towards the barrier and she braces herself for impact and slams her entire shoulder into it and creates a small divot---still larger than her last but not large enough to break through. Her hands begin to cramp and her legs begin to grow weary, but she doesn’t stop. She keeps pushing, and pushing, and pushing until…

Her elbow gives. The barrier snaps back. Julia is sent hurdling back towards the bottom of the stream.

Her heart sinks as she lets herself float down.

Of course she couldn’t escape. Of _course_ she couldn’t escape. There was a reason the barrier was there. To stop hyperactive souls who couldn’t just sit and relax like everybody else--

Someone grabs her hand. Her train of thought comes to a screeching halt as she snaps her head around and sees who has grabbed her.

It was a fellow soul, a tiefling, and they begin to guide her towards the top again.

 _You can’t give up_.

The voice in her head was not her own. The tiefling looks back at Julia, brows furrowed in determination, and nods at her.

An orc drifts over and holds onto her left hand, joining the duo. He wipes tears from his eyes.

_You have to say goodbye._

The three of them reach the barrier once more. The orc and tiefling push against it and gesture her to push with them.

Julia tilts her head. They offer her a soft, reassuring smile and gesture once more.

The restless soul slowly inches up joins them, and they continue to encourage her. She gingerly presses her palms against the force field and pushes. They give her a nod.

Their divot is larger, but even with their combined strength it isn’t enough to tear through. Yet, they do not give up. They keep fighting the barrier.

Julia feels herself rise. She looks down and sees three more have joined in.

_You can’t give up!_

_You have to see him again._

_You don’t belong here._

Julia is fueled by the encouragement of the fellow souls. Her hands begin to cramp again, but she does not stop. The barrier’s threads are beginning to thin.

_You must go!_

_You have to say goodbye!_

_You cannot stay here!_

Julia keeps pushing. She feels the barrier getting thinner and thinner as more souls gather to help her.

_You are so loved._

_You have to tell him goodbye!_

From the biggest of dragonborns to the smallest of dwarves, every soul in the radius of her wave of empathy came to her aid. They all felt her grief, her rage, her sorrow; they all knew she did not belong there.

Julia furrows her brow and grits her teeth.

The barrier had begun to tear, she could feel it begin to split underneath her palms. Her arms were aching as it became harder and harder to keep going.

_You can’t give up!_

_You can’t give up!_

_DON’T GIVE UP, JULIA!_

She screams a silent battle cry as she gives one more final push...

The barrier splits open.

Julia’s spirit bursts up from the stream.

She illuminates the walls of the Astral Plane in an angelic splendor.

With the help of her fellow spirits, she had _won_. She can’t help but laugh out loud. This time, she hears herself. She laughs a little louder. She stretches her limbs out as far as they’ll go, feeling the rush spread from the tips of her fingers to the ends of her toes. Her grin only widens.

The newly freed spirit drifts up to the ledge where the portal out of the Astral Plane is located and gently lands on the soft gravel. She peers over the ledge and sees the hundreds of sleepy, smiling faces of her new friends. She waves them goodbye as they begin to disperse, happily returning to their eternal rest until only one spirit remains.

Even though the barrier distorts and blurs the spirits’ faces, Julia would recognize that goatee anywhere. Steven Waxman looks up at his daughter, smile laced with pride. He extends a hand up to the surface of the barrier, and Julia makes out three fingers in the universal sign for “I love you.”

Tears well up in her eyes and threaten to spill over. She smiles back down at him and returns the gesture.

Steven lowers his hand slowly, smile wider than ever. Julia doesn’t think she’s ever seen him look so proud.   

He waves a hand upwards, ushering her to go. To get out of here. To find Magnus.

She nods at him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Fingertips extend from Steven’s lips to throw a kiss up at her. Julia lifts her fingers and catches it.

Her father nods, pride gleaming in his smile. His eyelids lower and close as he sinks back to the bottom of the stream, returning to rest.

Julia runs a hand through her hair. She turns towards the open portal swirling behind her. Only one thing left to do now.

She closes her eyes and steps through, letting the cool mist of the rift envelope her as she teleports out of the Astral Plane.

* * *

 

The Void is freezing.

And yet, it is also scalding.

It is louder than the most chaotic of symphonies and yet quieter than the loneliest corners of the universe.

She is peace.

She is chaos.

She is changing.

She is still.

Julia is nowhere and everywhere. She is nothing and everything.

She cannot comprehend it, and yet, she does.

That is, until someone yanks on the back of her collar and drags her from it.

* * *

 

Julia gasps as her lungs fill with air for the first time since the explosion.

She emerges from the portal head first, landing on her rump on the cold dirt below.

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF RAVEN ARE YOU DOING!?”  
  
Julia blinks as her eyes adjust to the light.

“Y’know, I knew this would happen. I just knew it! I knew you were too full of life force to rest in the Stream, but I figured I’d be nice and spare you the eternal stockade because y’know? I’m not an _animal._ And you were fine for a few years there! But then I receive word of _THE ENTIRETY OF THE STREAM RIPPING THE BARRIER!?_ I don’t even know how you managed to rally _THAT_ together! And then just waltzing into the first portal you see without checking to see if it was attached to anything!? You’ve got some _insane_ balls on you, Mrs. Burnsides. But, either way--”

Julia looks at Kravitz in confusion and tilts her head, “Y-years?! I-I-I don’t--”  
  
“Up! No no no, no talking, not a word. You’ve done enough already. Com’on, you’re going to take a trip to the stockade.”

“Wha-no! Kravitz please---”

He tightens his grip around Julia’s wrist and pushes her towards the portal. Julia digs her heels into the soft dirt underneath her and resists.

“Stop! Just! Li-listen--”  
  
“Shut! I gave you a chance. And you blew it. Let’s go.”  
  
“No-”  
  
“Shhht!”  
  
“Bu-”  
  
“Nope!”

Julia clenches her fist.

“JUST LET ME-”  
  
“I SAID SHUT-”  
  
Her fist swings around and punches him square in the jaw.

He stumbles backwards a state of shock. He holds the place where knuckles met jaw as he stares at her with shock plastered on his face.

Julia swallows. She inhales. She screams:

“I am NOT spending one more SECOND in that place! You can put me back in there but I will NEVER stop fighting you to get out! And I will spend every _second_ I’m there trying to break out and you’ll have to chase me _over_ and _over_ and _OVER_ again because I will NEVER stop fighting!”

Kravitz looks her, completely and utterly bewildered, as his jaw throbs.  

Julia gasps for breath, chest rising and falling rhythmically.

Her lower lip begins to tremble and the soul bursts into tears.

“I-I-I JUST WANT TO SAY G-GOODBYE!”

She holds the sides of her arms as she wails, hot tears streaming down her freckled cheeks.  
  
“I NE-NEVER GOT TO-TO-TO SAY GOODBYE.”

Kravitz looks at her, eyes trailing her up and down, watching her tremble and weep into her palms.

The aspect sighs. This was the hardest part of the job; yet a part of the job nonetheless. His loyalties laid with the Raven Queen, despite the fact that watching this girl sob tugged on his heart strings.  
  
His tone is hushed. “Julia-”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!”

She yanks herself away from him, and as she throws her arms down from her chest, Kravitz notices something. He squints at her quizzically. 

Yes, that was definitely something. But _what_. Well, if his assumption is correct... He had to make sure.

“Julia, come here-”  
  
“GET AWAY FROM ME--”  
  
He grabs the sides of her arms and fights to keep her steady as she thrashes.

“LET GO OF ME--”  
  
“Julia shh-shh-shh-shhh…”

She sniffles. Her shoulders lower.

Kravitz’ eyes dart to meet hers.  
  
“How much do you miss your husband?”   
  
“More th-than anything in the-the world.”   
  
“How much, Julia! Focus! How much do you miss him?”   
  
“I don’t know-A LOT!”   
  
“HOW MUCH?!”   
  
“I’D DO ANYTHING TO SEE HIM AGAIN!”   
  
“ANYTHING!?”   
  
“ _ANYTHING!!!”_

As soon as the word leaves her lips, the center of her chest begins to glow a bright, fluorescent white. It envelopes Kravitz in warmth as well as a very, very heavy sadness.

He wipes tears from his eyes.  
  
“Alright. This changes… A few things.”   
  
Julia takes off her glasses and wipes her own eyes with her apron. “I don’t h-have to go back do I?”  
  
“Depends,” He rests his hands on his hips, “Can you hold onto that--” The reaper points to her glowing heart, “--for a long time?”

She tilts her head down and puts her glasses back on her eyes, “Wha-what do you mean?”

Kravitz bites his lower lip in thought. “Each soul is created with a certain amount of,” He waves his wrist in circle, “Life force within them. Usually when souls escape, they glow a little bit from this life force. But… You, Julia Burnsides, seem to possess an _extremely_ large amount.”

The soul gingerly touches her glowing chest. “Is that a bad thing?”  
  
“For me? Yes.” He chuckles, “But for you, it happens to be a good thing.”

“I don’t understand.”  
  
The gravel crunches under his shoes as Kravitz steps next to her and points to the horizon. “Do you see those lights in the distance? The faint yellow-ish ones?”  
  
Julia stands on her toes to match Kravitz’s line of sight and adjusts her glasses. There was indeed a faint, yellow glow in the distance. It almost seems to be breathing as the edges rise and fall.

Julia swallows and nods, “Y-yes I see them.”

The reaper turns back to face her, “Those are the souls that circle the Raven Queen’s castle. If you hold onto that power in you, and if you keep following the light…” He pointed towards them once more and trails his finger down to the tips of her boots, as if following an invisible line, “... You’ll reach her.”  
  
“And then I, I can ask her if I can say goodbye to my husband?”  
  
“If she’ll see you, yes. I’m not guaranteeing anything, Julia. Just a chance.”

Julia lowers her gaze to her trembling fingers and echoes softly, “Just a chance…”

She clenches her fists. She looks back at Kravitz.

“I’ll do it.”

The reaper pauses, eyes scanning her up and down, before nodding. “Alright.” He slips a hand into his jacket pocket, “I’m not going to sugar coat this. This won’t exactly be a walk in the park.”  
  
Julia feels anxiety churning in her stomach, “I figured.”  
  
“So,” Kravitz sighs, blinking away more tears, “If you need a hand… Only for emergencies! I mean it, Julia, emergencies only,” He pulls out a single black raven’s feather attached to a shiny golden chain: “Hold this in your hand and call my name. Ok? Emergencies only!”

Kravitz steps towards her. Julia gingerly bows her head as the reaper lowers the feather around her neck. The soul takes the gift in her hand and runs her thumb down the spine. It glitters in flecks of gold as her finger trails it.

She looks up at Kravitz. “Thank you.”

He nods. “Good luck.”  
  
She takes a step towards the glow of the horizon as the reaper opens a portal.

“Kravitz?”  
  
He turns to her, dreadlocks gently hitting his suit.

“Your fake cockney accent is lame.”

He chuckles. “Is it really?”  
  
She nods. He smiles at her.  
  
“Goodbye, Julia.”  
  
“Bye Kravitz.”  
  
He steps through the portal.

And Julia is alone.  

**Author's Note:**

> Follow thelittlemightywriter on tumblr for updates, playlists, full list of triggers, and more!


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